December 27th, 2020 at 1:27 PM ^
Yeah, one of the greatest knuckleballers of his era. I probably have a baseball card of him somewhere. RIP Phil.
December 27th, 2020 at 1:35 PM ^
RIP Phil, you were a helluva pitcher!
December 27th, 2020 at 1:42 PM ^
Ugh! I had so many Phil Niekro TOPPS cards in my Mongoose bike spokes when I was a kid. Who back in the 80s didn’t try to perfect his knuckler using a wiffle ball in the backyard?
RIP
December 27th, 2020 at 1:52 PM ^
Hard not to throw a knuckler with a wiffle ball.
December 27th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
Throwing a knuckler with a wiffleball is akin to throwing a slider with a boomerang.
December 27th, 2020 at 3:28 PM ^
Very good point ?
December 27th, 2020 at 2:02 PM ^
Won’t be seeing anymore 20 game winner/20 game loser in the same season like he did in 1979 (21-20).
December 27th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
Not many pitched more innings in the major leagues, or ever will. RIP Mr. Niekro.
December 27th, 2020 at 2:15 PM ^
One my favorite baseball "names" from growing up was Biff Pocoroba -- just fun to say, even if he was just a mediocre catcher, mostly for the Braves.
About a month ago, randomly, the name popped into my head and I looked him up; unfortunately, he had died earlier this year at 66. Coincidentally, a nice remembrance column had some quotes for from one his former teammates, Phil Niekro.
I thought, "Well that's nice...Biff seems like he was a good guy, and it's nice old Phil is still alive."
And now...RIP.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2020/05/28/column-remembering-an-old-family-friend-biff-pocoroba/111872630/
December 27th, 2020 at 2:31 PM ^
Quick, somebody check on Charlie Hough!
December 27th, 2020 at 2:40 PM ^
FFS stop it with the 2020 bullshit. It's just pitiful. The man was 81. His death is not close to a tragedy.
December 27th, 2020 at 2:49 PM ^
How many times did his knuckleball strike you out?
December 27th, 2020 at 3:45 PM ^
same reaction
if he's 35 and died because of COVID or some bullshit, it's a tragedy
if he's 81, sounds like he lived a good life
RIP sweet knuckleballer
December 27th, 2020 at 2:42 PM ^
"Phil Niekro and his brother were pitching against each other in Atlanta. Their parents were sitting right behind home plate. I saw their folks more that day than they did the whole weekend." - Bob Uecker
RIP, Phil.
December 27th, 2020 at 2:54 PM ^
RIP to undoubtedly the best knuckleballer of all time. The man probably should have been a 400 game winner if he had: a) not spent so many seasons on rosters of bad to mediocre baseball teams, and b) been promoted to the majors earlier in his career---he spent almost 10 years in the minors primarily because the Braves didn't have a catcher capable of corraling Niekro's dippsey doodle.
Great story from ESPN:
I never saw Phil Niekro pitch but I do recall seeing his brother Joe (another fine knuckler) pitch for the Tigers a couple times. BTW, the Niekro brothers hold the record for most combined baseball victories: 539, 10 more than Gaylord and Jim Perry.
December 27th, 2020 at 7:46 PM ^
Lived in Atlanta for 10 years and got to see him pitch a couple of times. Once got to sit pretty close to the field - that knuckleball was something.
December 27th, 2020 at 3:04 PM ^
We met Phil Niekro at a baseball tournament in Myrtle Beach about 6 years ago. He was there helping to coach his grandson's team. Before the opening day parade, the tournament organizers take team pictures. Despite the sweltering heat, Phil graciously took a picture with every team. It must have taken 3 hours or more to do that. He was quite the gentleman. RIP Phil.
December 28th, 2020 at 6:50 PM ^
Good Good Guy.
Fun and accessible.
RIP
December 27th, 2020 at 3:21 PM ^
I think he pitched until he was like 75.
December 27th, 2020 at 3:23 PM ^
Anyone remember Don Aase?
December 27th, 2020 at 4:34 PM ^
Wow! 2020 gave back! Hi, Harry Caray!!!
December 27th, 2020 at 8:29 PM ^
He pitched till he was 48?! Wow.
December 28th, 2020 at 1:17 AM ^
Just saw somewhere that he had more wins after his 40th birthday than Madison Bumgarner has his whole career.